Maersk Line Plots New Asia-US East Coast Course via Panama Canal

World’s biggest container carrier Maersk Line is rerouting its TP12 Asia – US East Coast service through the expanded Panama Canal and turning it into a standalone, around-the-world service.

From the Far East to the US East Coast the TP12 service will transit the new Panama Canal locks and call the ports of Newark, Norfolk and Baltimore on the US East Coast. On the return leg to Asia, the TP12 will go through the Suez Canal and call the ports of Salalah (Oman), Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Singapore.

“We are changing our TP12 service to provide a better product to shippers in Korea, Northern and Eastern China. By transiting the expanded Panama Canal, we will significantly reduce transit times into key ports on the US East Coast. At the same time, we will reduce our CO2 and exhaust gas emissions due to the shorter distance,” said Klaus Rud Sejling, Head of East – West Network, Maersk Line.

Maersk Line is also improving other services this summer. It will add Busan in South Korea to the Westbound TP10 service, which is expected to improve transit times from Charleston and Savannah on the US East Coast to Busan and North China.

In addition, Maersk Line will connect its TP11 and TP8 services to form a pendulum service that expands the coverage of both services. The TP18 service will remain unchanged.

There will be no changes to the capacity in Maersk Line’s Asia – US East Coast network. Maersk Line will deploy 11 vessels of 8,500 TEU in the new TP12 service and 17 vessels of 8,500 TEU in the new TP11/TP8 pendulum service.